Just as CGI starts to get overused, too many animated films come out at once or thriller-horror become too confronting, the family drama is there to settle the film landscape and reminds us of human emotion.

This Is Where I Leave You is a welcome new release after some confronting drama in Gone Girl, some silly humour in Tammy and some out-there adventures in The Maze Runner.

The film runs in the same vein as new release The Judge. 

A relatively-estranged family is forced to come together because of a funeral and while spending a week together sitting the Jewish ritual of Shiva, they confront family issues that have lay dormant or always fuelled arguments.

Where This Is Where I Leave You differs to The Judge is the lashings of comedy that comes with the seriousness of a family in mourning.

Jason Bateman is the major focus of the film as Judd, the middle brother who has just discovered his wife cheating on him with his radio personality boss.

Also facing issues are Tina Fey’s (Wendy who is stuck in a loveless marriage and feels guilt about issues with her teenage sweetheart and Adam Driver’s Phillip, the younger brother, who is sick of being seen as the family screw up.

The eldest child Paul (Corey Stoll) is trying to conceive a child wife his wife who is also Judd’s ex-girlfriend.

But entertainingly at the head of the family is matriarch Hillary. 

Played wonderfully by Jane Fonda, Hillary is a therapest who had success after writing a tell-all book full of over-shares about raising her family.

The film totters along the line between comedy and drama very well though when it came down to the most dramatic moments, I found This Is Where I Leave You missed the mark because of the regular dashes of humour that a lot of people use in real life.

In that sense This Is Where I Leave You gives a strong real-life sense in how families grieve after a loss.

Films including Dan In Real Life, Elizabethtown and The Family Stone all run along the same vein as this film.

Director Shawn Levy (The Internship, The Night at the Museum series, Date Night) has done a good job commanding an excellent cast.

This Is Where I Leave You (M) is now showing at Bendigo Cinemas. See page 3 of the Bendigo Advertiser for session times.

Follow film reviewer Chris Pedler on Twitter @FilmNerdChris